Potato Math

I usually don't buy kitchen items that do only one thing.  

We have a small kitchen... so, space is a premium.  Utensils have to earn their keep.

Generally speaking, I wouldn't buy an item like this... but they had it on such a good sale, I would not feel guilty if I used it once and threw it away.

However, combined with my air fryer, I use this thing all the time.

It makes perfect fries.

But this is dangerous.

Here is what I have discovered.

I would never, typically, down 4 or five potatoes.

However, press them through the fry-maker.  Add a dash of oil and spice.  Give them 16 minutes in the air fryer.  Add some fry sauce.

All of a sudden, I can put down 4-5 potatoes in a flash.

I thought the air fryer... and the fry cutter... were a step toward health.

I am now questioning these decisions.

Me, Me, Me

Scrolling my newsfeed on Sunday morning often brings up a live church service in progress or a link to one.  Today I listened for a moment.  The same stuff I used to hear... but a critical ear changes so many things.

For example, this morning, the pastor quoted Oswald Chambers, who said that believers are often so devoted to their ideas about Jesus that they miss devotion to Jesus himself.

But all we have are ideas.  Believers can read the same text but walk away with very different ideas.  There are literally tens of thousands of Christian denominations.

So what does a statement, by a Pastor, encouraging a believer to doubt their ideas about Jesus accomplish?  Only the most open denominations would actually guide a congregant to deconstruct their beliefs... and this congregation was clearly Evangelical.

So what then?

It tills the ground for the Pastor's ideas about Jesus to be planted.  Whether explicitly or implicitly, the goal is to get the congregation on his page.  Like Smith in the 2nd Matrix movie, church leadership (with few exceptions) wants to replace your code with theirs.  Your ideas about God with their ideas.

And for many congregants, they understand that is the price of membership.  But just be clear that your ideas about God are being replaced with their ideas... but they are just ideas... and theirs carry no more inherent weight than yours.

A Relationship with Jesus

If you travel in Evangelical circles, you will often hear them say things like "Christianity isn't a religion, it's a relationship" or "I'm not religious, I have a relationship with Jesus".

But, of course, it is a religion and, no, it isn't a relationship.  I have always felt, even when I was a believer, that this sort of language was an attempt to set themselves apart from other religions and even those they consider lesser versions of Christianity.

Anyway, I wrote this as a comment on a thread some years back and I think it sums up why the word relationship, in this context, doesn't work -

I have personal relationships with real live persons. We talk, and the conversation occurs on both sides. We do stuff together and there is interaction.

If I think I have a relationship with someone because I have read their book, or heard their music, or looked at their art - that is only occurring in my head. I have watched many Quentin T. movies and listened to scores of interviews with him... so much so, it feels like I know him. But I don't and he doesn't know me. It is a flight of fancy to imagine otherwise.

When Christians state that they have a relationship with God, they are using that word in such a way that it is rendered meaningless. Even if we imagine for a moment that there is a god that made the universe and he wrote a book for us to read, we could appreciate his art and read his writings... but we still would not know him and we would not have a "relationship" with him.

It seems to me the best thing a Christian could say in this regard is that they are a Christian because they work at following the teachings and life of Christ.

HBO's The Last of Us

There has been a lot of hype over HBO's The Last of Us.

My take on episode 1.  First half great, 2nd half boring.

Mild spoilers ahead...

They did what I feared... they skipped the middle.

They start out with the introduction of the plague.  This is the $#!^ I find fascinating.  I want them to spend episodes... NAY!  A SEASON!... getting into the nuts and bolts of the infection.  How does it work, why is it spreading, how is science fighting it, and how is society dealing with it?  What happens as social and economic systems start to break down? There is so much story there.

But, like so many movies and series before it, we get quickly moved past all that and land in a future where folks are despondently walking about a landscape that nature is slowly recapturing.  Walking Dead skipped past all the good stuff too... and gave us season after season of folks wandering about running into worse and worse marauders and scavengers.  

I do hope this is not where the show is going... but the first episode for me had a great build-up and then a big let-down.

Back in the Box

"You need more faith!!"  is a common refrain in fundamental religious circles.  It is the cure shouted at every problem.  Issues of health, finances, questions about life... everything is about pushing you back into the framework.

To get back in, you have to have to cut off part of yourself.  Your pain, your questions, your desires... all have to be made smaller.

Over the decades, life gets more basic as they repeat the same verses, the same dictums.  Nothing new, no growth... just endless contraction.  The world looks stranger and stranger as it continues to grow and expand.  Eventually, the fundamentalist struggles to find good in anything or anyone outside their sect.

Teaching and Tacos

I often hear people say, "Kids are natural learners.  They are curious.  Just don't stand in their way!!"

Ummm, no.  SOME kids are natural learners.  Some are curious.  Others would just like to watch TV and eat tacos thank you very much.

I know this because if I only did what I WANTED to do... I would watch TV and eat tacos.

But, I have the self-discipline to know that path would make me obese and lonely... so I do other things and go to work.

Now, what is true is that most American classrooms are not meeting most kids' needs.  Some kids excel in academic disciplines.  They love bookwork.  They love to write.  They love to solve equations.

Others prefer movement.  They want to be outside.  They want to tear things, twist them, bend them, throw them.

Some folks love to be with people ALL DAY!  For others, an hour or two is MORE than enough.

Some kids have been reading voraciously since they were two.  They walk into 2nd grade on Harry Potter 4 and are starting to worry about what happens when they finish Deathly Hollows at the end of the month.

Others come in hoping that since they got through an entire Clifford book this week, they might be excused from reading for a while.

In our system, the Potter and the Clifford reader go to the same class because they have hit that magic age of 7.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen... your child's core curriculum for the year will be set, not by their motivation, not by their interest, not by their present level... but by how old they are.  

We just toss them all in together and wish those teachers the best of luck.  🙂

A Teaching Blind Spot

This meme has stirred up some dust on the teacher page I got it from.  Lots of teachers are chastizing this dad for "lazy parenting".  They say if parents would just "model" good reading practices at home, then kids would "learn to love reading" instead of seeing it as something they need to be paid for.  As one person said, "If they are read to from infancy they will learn enjoying a book is natural and just fun."

I do not think this blind spot is exclusive to teachers but I think the potential for harm is more prevalent because it is coming from teachers.

It is a common human error to believe that someone is "missing out" if they do not enjoy what we enjoy.  In this diverse world, there are LOTS of things to enjoy.  Some folks invest their time in sports, others in music, some like to climb mountains, many apply brush strokes to a canvas.  

Even those interests have varied levels of dedication.  Interests also change.  I enjoy acting in plays but I have friends who LIVE for theater.  My interest in acting was stronger a few years ago than it is now and it may circle back again.

Still... it is just one of many interests... as is reading.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, most teachers are recreational readers.  As such, there is a blindspot in the profession that often assumes there is something amiss if a child does not enjoy reading.  It makes my job easier if they enjoy it... but it should not be viewed as a problem if they don't.

Ya Did Good 2022!

Looking back, 2022 was an AWESOME year!  After the doldrums, stress, and tragedy of the pandemic, it was great to have a year where pretty much everything went right (minus a bout with kidney stones).

Started the year with a Ghost/Volbeat concert!  Hit a lot of movies, played disc golf.  Mary Lee got teacher of the year at her campus.

Got to see Sponge in March.

Joined my brother to visit my mom in Florida and had a great time with my cousins!

Saw Jesus Christ Superstar.

Wrapped up my 30th year of teaching then drove out to Cali to see a reunion concert of one of my favorite bands of all time – UNDERCOVER!  It had been about 20 years since I had last seen them.

Then I accompanied ML to a student medical competition in Nashville.  We spent a week at the biggest hotel I have ever seen.  During that week I got to see Lori and Marianne, two of my oldest and dearest friends (somehow, I don’t have one picture of us together… must be on everyone else’s phones).

A week later, after many attempts, I finally made it down to Mazatlán!  Paradise!  A day after that trip, Kathryn and I headed to Vegas to see the legend – Frankie Vallie!

Then my mom came into town and we caught two concerts and saw some wild ski jumping in Park City.

The fam did a guided hike in the mountains toward the end of summer and Jake and I got in some pool time.  I also taught Kathryn to play chess on a giant board.

Then our friends the Merrills took us on a tour of Capitol Reef.  I had been there a number of times before but these spots you can only get to via Bronco.

I got to spend most of September as a character in “The Mousetrap”.  I had so much fun in that show!

Then the wheel of time took a big turn as our darling daughter struck out on her own and moved into an apartment. 

I had never been out to Lake Tahoe before, so I spent fall break there disc golfing.  So beautiful!

The fam spent Thanksgiving in San Diego – we went to the Zoo, the USS Midway, lots of beaches, and plenty of amazing restaurants.

Went with my buds to see Bill Burr… no pictures in the arena… they sealed our phones at the door.

“Coffee Church” has become a Chreaster fellowship, but we still had an excellent Christmas party!

A walk among the lights of Luminaria heightened the holiday spirit.

Finally, our Christmas Eve tradition of hearing the choir at the Cathedral of the Madeline.

Thanks 2022!  Ya did good!

Bring Them To Church?

I read this on Facebook:

"Bring them to church‼️‼️ Saturate their lives with the Word of God. Even if they lay on the floor. Even if they need 437 goldfish and a sucker to be quiet. Even if you stand in the back swaying back and forth holding them. Even when it’s hard. Even when your row looks like a small hurricane just came through. Bring them to church. Let them see you worship. Let them see you pray. Let them see you running toward the Savior ... because if they don’t see and learn these things from you, who are they going to learn them from? 

The world will teach them it’s not a priority. The world will teach them it’s okay to lay out, not to pick up their Bibles. The world will direct them so far off course, confuse them, and misinform them that just being “good” is enough. The world won’t teach them about Jesus. That’s our job. 

Bring them to church‼️‼️"

Oh... the messages of conservative/fundie Christianity. 🤢🤢🤮  When they start using the phrase "the world" as a pejorative, you know you are about to enter a dark episode of the Twilight Zone.

"The world will direct them so far off course, confuse them, and misinform them that just being “good” is enough."

There is so much wrong with this sentence... and it sits at the core of the unhealthiness of this form of Christianity.

First, it is an invitation to a lifelong mental hampster wheel.  Jesus said that his yoke is easy and his burden light... but this perspective is anything but.  It keeps the believer in a perpetual state of feeling they don't measure up, that they have never done enough, and even what they have done is somehow tainted.

Second, it makes "good" suspect.  A believer of this stripe gets to negate the work of their fellow humans.  In my faith community, the work of great people doing great deeds was routinely brushed aside as having little value.  A life of character formation founded on good behavior and good deeds often gets replaced with vacuous piety. 

Third, the insecurity of never being good enough becomes a bludgeon that leadership uses to keep congregations in line. 

Lastly, it creates a chasm that divides the believer from their neighbors.  Under this thinking, the believer really only feels comfortable around those in their faith- as "the world" (everyone else) will only try to confuse them, misinform them, and direct them off course.  Responding to life this way sets up a vicious circle of behaviors and attitudes in the believer that make them want to separate themselves from their neighbors... and makes their neighbors happy to let them do so.

And then these believing parents encourage one another to drag their children into this.

Going Back To Christianity?

 

The latest podcast from Bart Campolo is an interview with a man who deconverted from the Christian faith only to convert back later.  He refers to his time out of faith as atheism.  

I am always suspicious of this declaration while simultaneously being hesitant to doubt the declaration.  I was a Christian for about 30 years and many Christians interpret my leaving as evidence that I was never one in the first place.  Would I not be doing the same thing to doubt his conclusion?

Perhaps.

Still, I wonder if it is merely a misnaming of an event.

I live in Salt Lake City and I know a number of folks who have deconverted from Mormonism.  However, not all of them became Atheists.  Many ended up in some other Christian denomination.  Others slipped into less definable spiritualities focused on energies, crystals, and auras.  

There is a difference between leaving "A" faith - and leaving faith.  For about a year or so after I left Christianity, I researched other religions.  Yes, I had left Christianity... but I had to be something... right??  My belief in the supernatural and "something else" being out there was not gone.  Even once I had made the mental transition to atheism, it took a while before my heart and the superstitions burned into my psyche were on board.

So, when I listened to Josh's story... I don't hear a once atheist.  I hear a guy who became less than dazzled by his faith... had his 40 days in the wilderness... and then landed in a different version of his faith.  

I suppose people can be atheists and convert back to faith.  

But, more often than not, I think describing one's transition time as "atheism" just adds drama and street cred to the story (whether the teller is intentionally doing so or not).